Escapism
by SnowDragon01
Summary: Everyone could agree that Johnny was a ticking time bomb, a disaster waiting to happen. It's not exactly fair to say, though, that it was entirely his fault. The kids were the real detonators, with their continuous taunting and laughing, and Plank really just ushered him on.


Escapism

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ED EDD N EDDY. IT IS LEGAL PROPERTY OF DANNY ANTONUCCI.**

_Constructive criticism greatly appreciated!_

Chapter One:

It began with his fantasy. It ended as hisreality.

Sarah coughed up blood. The screaming around her began to fade. She could no longer feel the fragments of glass that stuck into her back. Jimmy was curled up next to her. "Jimmy?" She reached out and stroked his bruised, bloody face. His mouth was slightly agape. There was a gash on his cheek. The smoke that swarmed above her was darker and thicker than ever. "Jimmy, please, wake up… please." She poked his face once, twice. His left eye opened slightly. "Sa… rah… please… away… nu…" he trailed off. Sarah waited for a moment. She poked his face again, and again. She began to rapidly prod it. Why wouldn't Jimmy wake up? Why wouldn't he wake up?! Her stomach began to flip around and around in its place. She stopped suddenly. Jimmy wasn't moving. He wouldn't be moving again. She curled up into a ball and pushed her face into her knees and screamed as the crackle of flames grew ever closer. A shadow dropped upon Jimmy. She looked up. "Johnny?"

Let us go back, back before this ever happened. Back to where it started.

Seven year old Johnny 2x4 sat playing by a peaceful river. It had always been his favourite place to have fun. Even though the other kids stood from the hill overlooking him taunted and threw rocks at him sometimes, it remained the place to be. It wasn't like he cared or anything. They were boring and always wanted to play tag or hide and seek and never his favourite game, 'Imagination'. He was not like the other kids, he was elite. He was a king and an astronaut. He was a prince and a dragon slayer and a fireman.

The wind whistled through the trees that fateful autumn day. Johnny was being a space ninja when he heard his mother calling, "Joooohny! Come in, we have to tell you something!" He dashed up the hill and onto his front lawn. His Mom and Dad stood hand in hand on the Porch. "Johnny… we are moving today." The cheeky smile faded from Johnny's face instantly. "What?!" He screamed, at the top of his lungs. His mother and father exchanged nervous glances. "Yeah, sorry we had to tell you at such short notice, kiddo', the job came up so suddenly," said his father, adjusting his tie. He looked deep into Johnny's eyes. "We have your things packed; the movers' trucks will be here in a while."

Johnny could barely speak; he was so full of rage. How _dare _theydecide to move without his permission? How _dare_ they? He loved Lemon Brook, it was his home. He swung around and darted down the hill. "I hate you! I hate you I hate you I hate you I hate you I hate you!" he yelled. His mind was clouded with fury. As he ran, he began to hear whispers coming from all around. "Johnny? Johnny? Help me Johnny… I'm scared, Johnny…" The voice grew louder as he ran through the forest. Before long, he came to a clearing. Within the clearing, there was a small tree in the centre. The voice seemed to come from it. "Yes… I'm here, Johnny, help me…" Johnny heard his father coming. "Nooooo, don't leave me here, I don't like being alone…" Johnny felt a rough arm grab him. "Johnny, don't run off like that again! The movers are here!" Johnny looked up at his father. The voice came again, but now it was a terrified screech. "Take me with you Johnny, take me with you!"

Johnny thought for a second. He looked at the tree, then at his Dad. "Hey Dad, I don't mind if we go, but could I bring wood from this tree?" His father looked at him, confused. He then stood up straight and tall and said, in a loud, authoritative voice, "Alright, Johnny, if it makes you happy, then…"

Johnny watched Lemon Brook pass by, Johnny Cash on the radio. He held a plank of wood with a scribbled mouth and eyes tightly to his chest. He looked at it. "I love you, Plank," he whispered. He held it up to his face. "Do you love me, Johnny?" Plank whispered. Johnny nodded his head slowly. "I love you, Plank." "I love you too, Johnny," Plank said. Johnny drifted into a deep, dreamless sleep, and Plank slid onto the seat next to him, watching him, always.

Nazz said not a word as Johnny crouched down and held her chin up to face him. "Do you love me now, Nazz?" He said, monotonously. Tears slid silently down her cheeks. "I'm sorry, Johnny, I'm so, so, so sorry for doing something to make me deserve th-"He slammed her pretty face down into the floor. "DO YOU LOVE ME?" he screamed. Plank laid on the floor a few metres away, pushing him on. "Go on, Johnny, finish her! She deserves it!" Nazz's eyes were bloodshot. "I love you Johnny," she gasped. He pounded her head into the floor again. "I love you, but you made me sad and now you are going to pay for making me sad!" He began to drive her face into the ground again and again and again, every time taking pleasure in her short gasps of pain between each slam.

He was diagnosed with Childhood Schizophrenia a little while after they moved in. Plank gawped at this. "They're lying, they want you to believe it, they want you to get rid of me," whispered Plank as they drove home. Johnny bit his lip and looked worriedly at him. "You really think that?" His father glanced at him in the rear-view mirror, watching him mutter something to the piece of wood. His mother twisted around in her seat and looked Johnny straight in the eye. "Johnny dear, stop talking to that thing." She snapped. Johnny was motionless for a second, and then held Plank up to his ear. "What's that? Oh… that's mean, Plank… but… okay. Plank says that you deserve to die, and that you're an ugly old hag." The few seconds were silent; as if sound itself was horrified. The car stopped suddenly. "HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT TO YOUR MOTHER?!" his father screamed, his face red and contorted with rage. His hand brushed his seatbelt and hit Johnny's knee with a dull '_plomp_'_. _Johnny's eyes filled with tears and he slunk away from his father's hand, hugging plank to his chest. The rest of the car ride passed in complete silence.

Everyone could agree that Johnny was a ticking time bomb, a disaster waiting to happen. It's not exactly fair to say, though, that it was entirely his fault. The kids were the real detonators, with their continuous taunting and laughing, and Plank really just ushered him on. It's time to begin from where it really should, in the parents' bedroom.

It was about 8 am in the Cul-de-Sac and the sun hung low lazily in the sky, blotted out by a massive sea of grey cloud. It was breezy, and orange-ish leaves tumbled down the street in the autumn chill. Mr.2x4 awoke to sounds of whispering down the hallway. "I knew they were always mean to me Plank, you don't have to tell me again. Yes, I have it here, it's so sharp, so beautiful… no, I don't have it, at least not yet. Okay, I'm ready Plank, I'm ready…" Mr.2x4 frowned and turned his head to see the door slightly open, Johnny walking silently through it. He held something behind his back, something that his father could not see, as he took great care to obscure it from his view. Johnny's face was mostly blank, though the slight twitches of his lips gave away his discomfort. "Daddy, you and Mommy were very mean to me…" Beside Mr.2x4, his wife shifted in her sleep. Her eyes cracked open, revealing deep brown eyes. "Mm… Honey? Johnny is that you?" Johnny ignored her. He cleared his throat and carried on. "And very mean people don't deserve to live, Plank told me." Beads of sweat trickled down his forehead as he edged nearer to the bed. "Plank says that very mean people deserve to die." He revealed an axe from behind his back and raised it over his head. "I hate you Daddy," he whispered. "Johnny n-"Johnny swung the axe down into his father's head as he opened his mouth to scream. Warm blood splattered onto Mrs.2x4's head. She shot up. "No Johnny stop, no! John-" She had no time to finish the sentence.

Minutes later, Johnny was observing his parents' bodies with a mixture of childlike awe and wonder. Did he regret it, was he feeling bad? No, he wasn't. He felt an odd sensation as looked down at the crimson stains on his shirt. What was this feeling, this beautiful, wonderful feeling? He dropped the axe and bounced into his room. "Plank, I did it, I did it!" he yelled joyfully. Plank's drawn on lips wobbled slightly as they always did when he was pleased. "Great," Plank said. He didn't physically speak, no. His voice came from the back of Johnny's head, but he always knew it was Plank. "You want everyone to pay, Johnny, right? Well, if so, we best get started soon." Johnny nodded, now serious once more, and picked up Plank. Work had to be done, and that work would have to be done soon…

END OF CHAPTER ONE

_As I said, constructive criticism greatly appreciated! Did you know that this fanfiction originally started as a story where Plank is actually an evil entity manipulating Johnny into committing murder, and it's all told from Plank' POW?_


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